Two deputies graduate POST school in St.Charles Parish: Keri Krenkel, Matthew Schmill

Two Sheriff’s Office deputies graduate P.O.S.T. training school

On May 6 two St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office deputies graduated the Peace Officers Standards and Training, or P.O.S.T., school in St. Charles Parish, Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

Officers Keri Krenkel and Matthew Schmill completed the
13-week course in basic police training including investigation and reports, weapons training, physical fitness and other subjects.

Representatives from the St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office attending the ceremony included Sheriff Pohlmann, Director of Training Maj. David DiMaggio, Lt. Robert Broadhead, Lt. Dennis Morgan and Dep. Eric Eilers.

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Sheriff Pohlmann and Maj. Clark tell D.A.R.E. program graduates they must make the right choices in life and told parents drug enforcement efforts are aimed at saving their children from a life of torment and crime

Sheriff James Pohlmann speaks to children and their parents and relatives.

Maj. Chad Clark talks to the students, parents and relatives.

Relatives of a Chalmette boy on hand for his graduation from the Sheriff Office Drug Abuse Resistance Education program said he enjoyed the course and has learned about the dangers of drugs and how to resist them.

“My son is very excited about (graduating),” said Kenyon Angeletti, whose boy is Kyron Angeletti. “He enjoyed it, including all the songs he learned.’’

“He learned about the dangers of drugs and how to resist them,’’ grand-mother Deborah Paul said. She also said,”I think it should go further. Churches should be doing this for young people’’
Kyron was among 112 5th-graders at Lacoste Elementary who graduated the D.A.R.E. program taught in schools by sheriff’s deputies. The program is aimed at trying to keep youngsters from using drugs including tobacco and alcohol or taking part in violence or bullying others.

Sheriff James Pohlmann and Maj. Chad Clark spoke to students and a large turnout of relatives, telling the kids they must concentrate on making the right choices to have productive lives, including listening to their parents and teachers and deciding who they should and shouldn’t associate with.

The sheriff praised parents for coming out and encouraged them to continue staying focused on their children, including talking often with them and looking for warning signs to help prevent drug use or be alerted to them actually using drugs.

If necessary, drug test kits are available at pharmacies to test young people, the sheriff told parents. If there is a problem it is important to rescue them before they become involved in the criminal justice system and end up in prison, the sheriff said.

Educating children early on about the hazards of drug abuse is the best hope to reduce future use and a life tortured by drug addiction and criminal acts to support a drug habit, Sheriff Pohlmann said.

“How do you stop the crime problem,’’ the sheriff asked children and parents. “You’ve got to stop the drug problem,’’ he answered.

The sheriff said many people have family members affected by illegal drugs.

“Drugs destroy your life, your family and your community,’’ Sheriff Pohlmann said. The parish jail is filled with people who are there because of drug problems, either because they were arrested with drugs or the need for money to buy drugs led them to get caught stealing or burglarizing, the sheriff said.

“Learn the warning signs of drug use,’’ in young people, Sheriff Pohlmann said to parents, including:

– Loss of interest in things they used to do such as sports, dance or reading.
– Hanging around with new groups of friends unknown to parents.
– Sudden attitude or mood swings.
– Sudden problems connected with school and academics.

Talk regularly with your children and be familiar with their friends, the sheriff said.

If parents see signs of possible problems, don’t be hesitant to ask what is happening. “It’s not something they will grow out of and it needs to be addressed,’’ the sheriff said.

Maj. Clark, commander of the Special Investigations Division including the Narcotics Unit, said it takes the kind of education effort given by Sheriff’s Office drug resistance instructors at parish schools to affect the drug problem in America as well as solid law enforcement to stop drug dealers.

Clark said overdose deaths have been going down in the parish, with three in the last 18 months compared to 12 in the year before that. A combination of factors led to that including law enforcement diligence, education and efforts by paramedics to save lives, Clark said.

“We can’t arrest ourselves out of this problem,’’ Clark said.

The resurgence of the drug heroin is concerning law enforcement and health care officials nationwide, he said.

Maj. Clark told children they have received the tools they need to begin making right choices. Clark also pledged to parents narcotics officers will continue to do their best to rid the parish of drug-dealers.

Several hundred 5th-grade students graduate each semester from the D.A.R.E. program given by St. Bernard sheriff’s officers Lt. Lisa Jackson, commander of the program, and Sgt. Darrin Miller. The D.A.R.E. program, held in both public and private schools, was re-established in 2009, four years after Hurricane Katrina.

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Sheriff supports Crimestoppers GNO and asks people to take the GiveNOLA challenge May 3 and donate online at givenola.org/npo/crime-stoppers-gno

Sheriff James Pohlmann supports Crimestoppers GNO and asks people to take the GiveNOLA challenge and donate online on May 3 to support the crime-fighting agency that has helped St. Bernard solve crimes through its rewards for tips program.

What is GiveNOLA Day?

Hosted on Tuesday, May 3rd by the Greater New Orleans Foundation, GiveNOLA Day is the community’s one-day, online giving event to inspire people to give generously to the nonprofit organizations that make our region a stronger and more thriving community for all.

Every dollar donated from midnight to midnight on May 3rd will be increased with additional dollars provided by the Greater New Orleans Foundation and generous GiveNOLA Day sponsors.

Everybody can participate on GiveNOLA Day. Individuals can make online donations to Crimestoppers GNO. The minimum donation is $10.

Go online to givenola.org/npo/crime-stoppers-gno.

“Crimestoppers has helped St. Bernard solve so many crimes through its program that offers rewards for tips,’’ Sheriff Pohlmann said. “Please help this group with any donation you can afford.”

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Sheriff’s Office collects record amount – nearly 150 pounds of prescription medications turned in by residents in drug take-back day; Can also call SBSO at 271-3673

A man drops off medications at the drug take-back day.

Shown with boxes of medications collected at the drug take-back day are, from left, Walgreens Store Manager Charles Mengel, employee Jimmy Woringen, Capt. Pat Childress,, Sheeriff James Pohlmann and Maj. Chad Clark.

Several people said Saturday, April 30, they were glad to see the Sheriff’s Office holding a drug take-back day at the Walgreens in Chalmette in conjunction with federal drug authorities because they didn’t know what else to do with medications they didn’t need any longer and didn’t want to fall into the wrong hands.

“I have been holding on to these a while cause I didn’t know what to do with them,’’one woman said, dropping several bags of prescription medications into a box as sheriff’s deputies spoke with her.

A record amount of prescription and other medications were turned in at the drug take-back event, just under 150 pounds in four hours, Sheriff James Pohlmann said, thanking everyone who brought in drugs they didn’t need or want any longer.

“This has been a great partnership with Walgreens which provides us space in their customer parking lot to collect the drugs,’’ the sheriff said “The amount collected from the public means those pills and other drugs never reach the streets to be abused, often by young people.’’ Drugs collected are incincerated.

Studies show young people usually start abusing pills by stealing them from medicine cabinets at the homes of relatives or from parents of friends, he said.

Sheriff Pohlmann also assured people they can call the Sheriff’s Office at any time to make arrangements to have prescription medications collected to be destroyed and don’t have to wait for an official drug take-back day.

Call the Narcotics Unit on its drug hotline number at (504) 271-DOPE, which is 271-3673, and an officer will either answer or call you back to make arrangements for a pick-up, he said. Call the same number to anonymously report illegal drug activity you believe may be taking place in the parish, the sheriff said. All calls will be acted upon.

Charles Mengel, store manager for the Walgreens at Paris Road and Judge Perez Drive, and his staff took part in the event with narcotics officers.

Nationally, millions of pounds of drugs have been collected in the past years of the take-back event.

Maj. Chad Clark, who commands the Sheriff Office Special Investigations Division which includes the Narcotics Unit, said the drug take-back day is aimed at “trying to reduce the risk of addiction and the 46,000 deaths across the country each year that come with prescription drug abuse.’’

St. Bernard Parish has been successful in lowering the number of drug overdose deaths in recent years due to several factors including the drug-take back days, education programs taught in schools by sheriff’s officers and vigorous enforcement of drug laws, the sheriff said.

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Man caught in Chalmette with over a half-pound of heroin – the largest amount seized in St. Bernard Parish – gets 25-year sentence without possibility of parole or suspension after pleading guilty

A man caught in Chalmette last year with more than a half-pound of heroin – the largest amount ever seized in St. Bernard Parish – received a 25-year sentence without possibility of parole or suspension on Monday after pleading guilty as an habitual offender.

Alvin Clay, 29, ringleader of a group of six people arrested in Chalmette in March 2015, had 8.3 ounces of heroin worth more than $100,000 on the streets, Sheriff James Pohlmann said at the time of the arrests. He pleaded to possession with intent to distribute heroin.

Clay, scheduled for trial in Chalmette received the 25-year sentence from state District Judge Jeanne Juneau on Monday under a deal in which he was prosecuted as a repeat offender.

“This was great police work by the Sheriff’s Office,’’ to make the arrest, District Attorney Perry Nicosia said. He added that the case “continues my campaign promise to make use of the repeat offender law to make sure criminals receive an appropriate sentence.’’

Assistant District Attorney Charles Ward handled prosecution of Clay.

Clay has a lengthy criminal history that includes 30 months spent in prison for drugs and weapons in a New Orleans conviction. When arrested he was out on bond in New Orleans where he also had been booked with possession with intent to distribute heroin and marijuana.

He had just moved into Chalmette before his arrest by the St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office.

Clay has been jailed in Chalmette since his arrest.

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